Do it ‘til you do it
A few months ago, our 6-year-old son decided it was time to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels. Up to that point, he hadn’t shown any interest in two-wheel riding. But when a cool, new green bike from REI arrived at home for his birthday, and the thoughts of riding alongside his buddies during the summer started dancing around in his head, he was ready to get rid of that extra support.
As expected, the first attempts at riding without training wheels were not pretty. Running alongside and then behind him on the street in front of our house early that evening, I was the target of his frustration after he had a few rough spills on the concrete. “Papa, you didn’t hang on long enough!” “Papa, you let go too early!”
I wasn’t sure after that experience that he’d be willing to give two-wheel riding (or me, for that matter) another shot so soon, but the following morning he was ready to saddle up again – no matter how many bruises and tears awaited him. So as we staked our claim to a nice, quiet spot on the lakefront path near our house, I showed him how to move his feet off the pedals and onto the ground so he wouldn’t hurt himself if he felt he was losing his balance and might fall. After that, it just clicked.
Just 30 minutes later, after going back and forth in front of us many times while trying to gain his balance and confidence, he was off. Goodbye, training wheels. Hello, freedom. What an incredible moment for all of us as we celebrated this huge accomplishment. He was now ready to ride alongside us and his friends on biking adventures.
Shocked at how quickly he was able to learn this skill with us basically just watching from the sidelines, my wife and I asked him how he was able to do it. Without pause he responded: “Just do it ‘til you do it.”
We had a good laugh about that, but then it quickly struck us how profound his statement was. He was faced with a challenge – one that 24 hours earlier seemed like an impossibility to master – yet now here he was riding a bike without training wheels simply because he decided he was going to do it. It didn’t matter how many tears were shed, how many times he fell or how many Paw Patrol band-aids were going to be covering his hands, arms and legs.
“Just do it ‘til you do it.”
I’ve given plenty of thought to those words these last few months as I’ve contemplated getting back into the freelance writing and editing world and then finally deciding to start MB Writing and Editorial Services. I understand small business ownership doesn’t come without some bumps and bruises along the way, but if I end up losing my balance and suffer some falls, I know I’ll be ready to get up, dust myself off and keep pedaling.
It's time to ride.